God's Will
by Athenais Penelope Clemence
Summary: S2 Finale AU. Robin Hood arrives in the courtyard a moment before Guy can stab Marian. True love is worthy of any sacrifice. There is God's will for the world and for a man, and, sometimes, God spares lives out of His divine mercy.


_This is a long one-shot about Robin Hood, Marian of Knighton, Guy of Gisborne, Sheriff Vaisey of Nottingham, King Richard, and the outlaws._

 _S2 Finale AU. Robin Hood arrives in the courtyard a moment before Guy can stab Marian. True love is worthy of any sacrifice. There is God's will for the world and for a man, and, sometimes, God spares lives out of His divine mercy._

 _It is one of my old one-shots written about five years ago._

 _Warning: Guy fans might not like this story. Proceed to read it with caution._

 _Undoubtedly and unfortunately, I don't own the characters and the show._

 _Hope you will enjoy the story._

 _Any reviews are appreciated. Constructive criticism is always welcome._

* * *

 **God's Will**

 _Imuiz_

The sun blazed down on the deserted town of Imuiz relentlessly. The air was hot, stuffy, and filled with a strong odor of death and bloodshed, which had long become equally usual and terrible for everyone whose feet had ever stepped in the Holy Land. Although one might have a rush of thrill while thinking of the holy places, the very thought about it came with the fear of death unavoidable and unseen out of the battlefield but still present in the most intimate of thoughts of a traveler.

Lady Marian of Knighton was running down the narrow alley, the crumbling ruins of Arabic buildings and shimmering sand flickering before her eyes. She didn't care about her surroundings, running rapidly, as if she were a leaf driven by the wind into the sea, as she searched for the source of the sound that had frightened her so much – the howl of pain that she had heard moments ago.

Marian was exhausted and thirsty, but she couldn't stop and rest for even one moment. As she reached the huge deserted courtyard, she paused, panting and trying to catch her breath, her eyes surveying the landscape of tediously monochromatic yellow and white – yellow and white. Her eyes focused on the large, tall figure of a man lying on the sand with an arrow protruding out of his back, and her heart skipped a beat as she recognized that the fallen warrior was King Richard the Lionheart.

Without a second thought, Marian rushed to the wounded King of England. Her heart was seized by mortal fear which she had never felt before. Since she had been taken prisoner by the sheriff, Marian often pondered over Robin and his unwavering loyalty to King Richard, and in those hours of despair and desolation, she asked herself whether their fight would ever be over or not. But even though she already had certain doubts about the king, she could never wish him dead.

Marian felt relief wash over her as she noticed Richard move his left arm slightly – he was alive. There was nobody in the courtyard, and it was God's blessing that the sheriff, Guy, or one of the Saracens hadn't appeared there yet.

The sound of a sword drawn from its scabbard foretold a different story, and Marian looked around, waking up abruptly to the sense of danger. She felt her breath taken out of her at the sight of Guy of Gisborne walking towards the king, his expression changing into somber determination, as though he had started on a desperate, but promising, journey that would last only for a minute but would change his entire life.

"Guy!" Marian shouted as she strode forward, determined to stop him. "Guy!"

Guy stopped for an instant, his expression evolving into one of displeasure. He failed to understand how Marian could have ended up with the outlaws, for he had assumed that, after the king's murder, he would find her at the house owned by the sheriff's allies. After all, he had seen her on horseback as they had left King Richard's meeting with Saladin's imposter. When they had arrived in Imuiz, he had threatened the assassins that he would kill each of them if even a single hair fell from her head. Marian had to live; they had a brilliant future ahead of them after their return to England, but she shouldn't be in the courtyard and watch how he would take the king's life.

Guy strode forward, his sword still drawn, but for a moment he was distracted from killing the king. His mind was focused on Marian as his eyes took in her lovely face, her skin shining with an otherworldly glow in the sunlight, and her slender figure dressed in the long, white gown that he had bought for her in the central market in Acre the day before. In that magical moment, he was able to think only of Marian – the woman of his dreams, beautiful and young, proud and dignified, kind and tender, pure and innocent, who could give him redemption through his love for her.

Marian's voice calling him and the king's moan in the background snapped Guy out of his thoughts.

He advanced forward, his eyes abandoning Marian and fixing upon the monarch. The image rendered him almost dumb for a split second with a sort of wonder: he had never imagined that he would see the high and mighty King Richard the Lionheart wounded and unprotected on the sand. He had failed to kill the king before, but now he was so close to the completion of his mission, though, unexpectedly, he didn't feel thrilled at the thought of committing regicide.

Marian stopped several steps from Guy. She stretched out her arms defensively, blocking his path to the king. "Stop!" she said in a high voice. "It's over, Guy!"

"Get out of the way!" Gisborne directed her in a commanding voice.

She took a step back, continuing to shield the king with her own body. Her gaze locked with Guy's, and she shuddered inwardly at the sight of the dangerous, lethal glint in his eyes. She had seen the same glint before – on the night when he had burnt down Knighton Hall, even though she had begged him to stop. Marian had no doubt that Guy had already made up his mind to kill the king, but she had to try to distract him, buying more time for the king and herself before Robin and the outlaws arrived.

Marian shook her head, and Guy's eyes darkened, his expression hardened. She found it difficult to withstand the intensity of his gaze, but she didn't glance away.

"All this time I have been fighting for England," she declared passionately. "Do you think I am going to let you kill England?"

Guy felt rage coursing through him. He had to remove her from his path and get to the king. "Marian, get out of the way!" he bellowed as he slashed his blade through the air.

She bravely stood her ground. "If you want to kill the king, you will have to kill me first!"

Guy stepped closer to Marian. He cast a brief glance at the king who moved slightly and groaned. There was no way back, and he had to kill the king. Richard was just one man; a man who had never truly been English and had always cared more about wars than about his people.

"We are going to get out of this. I am going to do this thing, and then I will have power beyond measure." He took another step forward. "I will do this and then we will be together."

Marian was deeply shocked, as if the ground were shaking beneath her feet. So, this was how things were with Guy, who dared tell her that they would be together after he bathed his hands in the blood of the rightful King of England! She had never reciprocated his feelings, but she had always hoped that Guy could change and break away from the sheriff, but his words proved that all her hopes were futile.

She was disappointed and her heart hurt so much, recognizing that Guy's unwillingness to stop had ruined their fragile friendship. She was short on faith in his ability to change for already quite some time, since she had heard the confirmation of his treason from his own lips. Guy was doomed to live in the inky darkness forever, and with this realization, Marian forsook the idea that there was something good in this dark and cruel man determined to lead a life misspent in the quest for power and wealth.

Overwhelmed with anger, Marian wished to hurt Guy for the destruction of her belief in him and for his desire to possess her against her will. She was unarmed, but she could hurt him with words. Her brain was working, struggling to form a response to Guy, but there was a huge, black hole in her mind, and she wasn't able to think in the old conniving and serpentine ways which had allowed her to live a double life as Robin Hood's spy and the proper, law-abiding Lady Marian.

Guy called her, and his deep voice drew her gaze to his face. As her eyes riveted on him, she could feel a touch of disgust on her skin, and there was a sense of lugubrious drollery in her mind at the thought that Guy wanted to kill the king for power and win her heart through regicide. Like her faith in Guy had dissipated, her ability to assure him earnestly that she was interested in him vanished like smoke. She could no longer speak lies, expressed in alluring phrases and strengthened by charming smiles for believability. Her next action came as a surprise, even to her.

Marian scoffed, looking into the eyes of the leather-clad man. "I would rather die than be with you, Guy of Gisborne," the words escaped her lips, and an irradiant smile illuminated on her face, her eyes were shining with love. The anger that she had felt before was now replaced by a feeling of ethereal lightness that she hadn't sensed in such a long time.

Guy blinked in shock, his eyes frantic. "No!"

Marian gave a nod. "I am going to marry Robin Hood!" she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with joy. Her smile widened, and her heart pounded harder in the sheer delight of the moment as the image of a handsome young face framed by sandy hair – the face of her beloved outlaw – flashed in her mind. "I love Robin Hood," she said. She had finally told him the truth about her relationship with Robin!

"No!" Guy said, shaking his head in disbelief. He had never heard her speak with such happiness.

"I love Robin Hood," she repeated again.

There was so much passion in Marian's confession of love that Guy shuddered in shock mingled with rage. He didn't want to believe her, but her words rang in his ears like church bells, but not for his wedding with her – instead they sounded the death knell of the future he had craved beyond reason. Looking at Marian's smiling face and into her sparkling eyes, Guy knew that she had spoken the truth – she loved his mortal enemy, not him. He hadn't lost Marian – he had never had her heart.

His image of an ideal, pure Marian, which had already been tarnished by the shocking revelations of her being the Nightwatchman, was gone. Instead, Guy could see only the treacherous woman who had lied to him and had used him to spy at the castle while leading him to believe that there was hope that she would love him back. Marian's smile – a slow, irradiant, entrancing smile of pure bliss and perfect happiness – sent a raging wave of humiliation and anger through Guy, leaving nothing there but a personal sense of wretched betrayal, a tart feeling that sent him to the brink of madness.

A convulsion of madness and rage passed over Guy's face. Guy no longer controlled himself – he wanted to hurt her as much as she had just hurt him. He had wanted Marian to be his savior from the world of darkness and despair in which he lived, but she had killed the remnants of his hope for a better life. His life was broken, and his dreams were shattered, and he wanted to break Marian as well.

Bloodlust seized his heart, and he took a step forward, lunging at Marian with his sword, with a fury of madness that she had never seen on his face before.

Marian didn't grasp what Guy was doing. And then she heard the frightened, desperate voice of the man whose arrival in the courtyard she had been anticipating for so long.

"Marian!" Robin shouted as he appeared from beneath a nearby building. He ran towards Marian and Guy as fast as he could, like a storm blowing and churning already turbulent waters.

She wanted to turn her head and find Robin, for she knew that his voice came from somewhere nearby. Robin was close to her – he had come to save her just as she had hoped he would.

There was a sudden flash of wheat-colored hair before Marian's face, and then she was pushed to the ground. As she lay face down on the burning sand, she couldn't see the most horrible picture her mind could conjure – Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne stood locked in a tight, lethal embrace, with the broadsword between them, driven deeply into the flesh of the king's savior.

A deathly silence settled over the square, and all that could be heard were the labored breathing of the two enemies and King Richard's muffled moans in the background. The shadowy might of death reigned in the courtyard, and the air was charged with the tension and the cruel chill of hatred radiating from the two men who stared into each other's eyes full of shock and disbelief.

Robin Hood had come to the courtyard to save Marian in time, but God wasn't on his side today. In the immensity of earth, desert, and heavens, there he was, the greatest hero ever born in England, sacrificing himself for the love of his life. The Holy Land was about to glisten and drip with his blood.

§§§

As Guy instinctively pulled Robin into a tight embrace, he trapped the blade inside Robin's body, shredding him deeply, almost from the inside out. In that grip, Robin slipped further on the blade and felt a searing pain shoot through his body. His heart pounded wildly as he tried to endure the torment without howling with pain. Every breath was a painful torture as agonizing as crucifixion.

Guy's expression changed into sheer shock. He didn't understand what had happened, and the last man whom he had expected to see after Marian's confession was Robin Hood. Looking into Robin's pale blue eyes, he thought that he had hated these eyes since the day of the fire at Gisborne Manor, if not even before, because Malcolm of Locksley had eyes of the same color. As Robin's face twisted in pain, the realization dawned upon Guy – he had just impaled Robin Hood. His eyes widened in shock, and his chest expanded after a deep breath, as if it couldn't contain the beating of his heart.

"You wanted to murder Marian," Robin said through gritted teeth, his pained expression evolving into a cameo of mortal hatred. "You have never loved her. You don't know what love is." Every word brought him only pain, but he wanted to speak – to tell Guy everything he thought of the man who, he knew, was to blame for stealing his chance to have a happy life with Marian on earth.

Guy was so dazed that he had just noticed his arm wrapped around Robin's back. He had meant to reach out for Marian and make her forget that nonsense about her love for Hood, but instead the outlaw had appeared and Guy had pulled Robin into his arms unintentionally. Guy wanted to let Robin go, knowing that his enemy would fall if he unlocked their embrace, but he didn't for unknown reasons, and he only tightened his grip on Robin, causing the outlaw more pain. Robin tried to take a deep breath, but his agony intensified; he had never felt such a monstrous pain before.

"You took her from me," Guy rumbled, his eyes glistening with hatred.

Robin shot him a fulminating glare. His face was as pale as death itself as a new wave of sharp pain surged through him. "She is not a trophy to take," he parried.

"She should have been mine," Guy hissed, his expression hateful.

Robin narrowed his eyes, and his lips thinned; his expression was harder than granite. "Gisborne, you could kill me a hundred times over, but the hatred, the self-loathing, it's never going to go away. You will never hate me as much as you hate yourself," he whispered.

With a howl of rage, Guy finally released Robin, who moaned and fell to the sand, Guy's sword deeply driven into his stomach. Guy paused and stared fixedly at Robin Hood, whose lay defeated before his eyes; his body was trembling in shock from the murderous deed he had just committed, and from the anger that possessed his entire being.

Guy stood rooted to the spot, looking with eyes wide in horror at the injured Robin Hood. His mind was filled with images of the past as he remembered all the times when he had wanted to kill Robin but had always failed. Robin was deadly with a sword and a bow, almost always winning his fights with Guy, except for the moments when Guy had attacked his mortal enemy from the back, like in the Saracen attack, or if he had taken advantage of Robin in moments of weakness. Gisborne scanned Robin's motionless form, briefly entranced by a growing pool of blood on the ground.

Guy felt lightheaded and his mind was dazed, struggling to believe that he had finally succeeded, and now Robin lay dying before him. Suddenly, he realized how he had managed to win this time – he had wounded Robin Hood when Robin had saved Marian from death. Guy was in a state of great shock at the thought that he had nearly murdered the woman he loved.

The Black Knight fixed his gaze on the sword that protruded out of Robin's abdomen. He wasn't a fool and knew that it was a mortal wound – Robin Hood would die today, being accidentally killed by Guy of Gisborne. Looking at his defeated, dying enemy, Guy suddenly felt nothing but sorrow and shame, and a feeling of unabated guilt took possession of his heart. Unexpectedly to himself, he wasn't happy that he had become the murderer of England's legendary hero.

The dazed trance of his previous state of mind vanished, and Guy felt the urge to see where Marian was, hoping that he hadn't hurt her. He turned his head from the outlaw, and then he saw her.

Marian knelt nearby, her eyes wide with disbelief, her lips twitching, as if she were praying. The shock of the scene before her made her numb, and blood drained from her face. The expression on her face was hard to define, for she looked terrified, devastated , anxious, and panicked, and there was amazement on her face too, as if she were stepping into an indistinct and unreal world where the bloody carnage before her eyes was an illusion, though a convincing one.

"Marian," Guy said as he took a step towards her; then he paused, hesitating.

Marian heard his voice only faintly. She felt a previously unknown sense of mortal dread creep into her bones. She hardly realized the situation, knowing only that Robin had come but now lay on the sand. Guy's voice awoke her from her slumber, and she became mindful that soon she would face something unexpected and final. All the agony and all the desperation, which had been accumulating in her heart and soul during the many months of the voyage to Acre, finally entered her consciousness: she became acutely aware that Guy had mortally injured Robin.

In the shock of that dreadful thought, Marian swung her gaze to Guy. "You stabbed Robin," she articulated between clenched teeth, her expression changing into festering hatred, her eyes narrowing. She rose to her feet, swaying slightly. "You wanted to kill me, but you stabbed Robin."

Guy stared into Marian's hate-filled eyes and shuddered in alarm at the amount of hatred he could see there. "I didn't know that he would come to the courtyard!" he defended himself.

"You stabbed him," she repeated, as if she couldn't quite believe what she was saying.

He snapped wrathfully, "You provoked me, Marian! I didn't know that Hood would be here!"

Marian lifted a hand to her mouth in disbelief. "Is it my fault? You dare tell me that it is my fault!"

"Accuse yourself and fate, but not me," he responded firmly. His voice, however, lacked confidence, giving away the feeling of guilt that twisted in the pit of his stomach.

Instead of replying, Marian turned away. Her gaze fell on Robin's bow and his quiver which lay on the sand near his injured form. As if she were guided by an invisible strength, she staggered towards Robin. For a moment, her gaze lingered at a pale and still Robin, his eyes closed, but it was not a time to construct mental pictures of what she would have to face in the next few moments. She was still in a state of denial over Robin's looming death, wishing to think that it was a nightmare.

She crouched and took the bow in her hands; then she straightened her spine. Her slender fingers stoked the bow, admiring its graceful curves. As she envisioned Robin stroking the bow and its cord with his long, nimble fingers, her heart writhed in anguish and despair. And now Robin was dying and would never use his bow again! For a very short moment that seemed to her an agonizingly long one, Marian was filling her heart with silent lamentations over the death of her beloved, and each of them was drawn out to the accompaniment of her wild heartbeat.

This bow had a special meaning – it was an extension of Robin and a symbol of his unparalleled archery skills. And, all at once, Marian imagined that she could hear Robin's appeal to her echoing in the stillness of the courtyard – his appeal for revenge and justice. Robin's voice reverberated in her ears, desperate and woven of pain, plea, and prayer, sounding like the cries of the drowning in the tumult of a tempest. Looking between the bow in her hands and her beloved fiancé, she couldn't help but think there was a lot of strength in Robin's bow, and it reminded her of an aura of strength that surrounded Robin. Once Robin told her that his bow protected him and those whom he loved, and Marian hadn't forgotten that.

Turning to Guy, Marian narrowed her eyes to slits as a powerful wave of unspeakable, unabated revulsion rushed through her. Observing Guy's stunned face, she suddenly realized what she coveted to do. Arrows of shock that Robin's demise at Guy's hands had buried in her heart had generated her inextinguishable hatred for Guy. Now it was clear to her that her final and absolute revenge lay in punishing Guy for Robin's wound, for attempting to take her own life, and for making two attempts on the king's life.

Marian spoke in a sibilant voice. "You have committed the most evil deed today, Gisborne."

Guy imagined that the ground trembled beneath his feet, as though an earthquake had struck Acre. He had never heard Marian's voice full of so much abhorrence. "Marian, I didn't–"

She interrupted him. "Gisborne, you didn't mean to stab him, did you?" she asked as she stepped towards him, still clutching Robin's bow. Her voice reminded him of the sound of a hissing serpent preparing to strike its victim.

"Marian, what are you doing?" a confused and horror-stricken Gisborne asked. He glanced at the bow in her hands, and a cold shiver ran down his spine. What was she going to do? Was she intending to shoot him? She had taken Hood's bow, but she didn't have an arrow to nock!

Marian made another step towards Gisborne. "You wanted to kill the king! You almost killed me, and then you wounded Robin!" Her gaze veered to Robin, and her heart skipped a beat. She noticed Robin slightly move his arm: he was still breathing, and there was still hope. She looked back at Guy and continued, "How many times did you try to kill Robin?"

Gradually, Guy succeeded in putting the sin of wounding Robin at a distance. "You know nothing about Hood and me! Hood and his father destroyed my family and my heritage! They–" He wanted to tell her that Robin was guilty of his banishment from Locksley, but she cut him off sharply.

She cast a glance at him in which there was neither interest nor surprise – only hatred. "Stop talking nonsense about Robin and his esteemed father, Gisborne!" She glanced at Robin briefly, and then she centered her attention entirely on the man to whom her animosity was stronger than to anyone else. "You never mean to cause any harm, yet you do!" she screamed, gesturing towards Robin.

"Marian…" The words died on his lips. So profound was the shock that his voice failed him.

Satanic hatred for Guy blossomed in her soul. "Several times, I asked Robin to spare your worthless life, but now I can see how wrong I was. I should have allowed Robin to kill you in the woods, when he discovered your tattoo. Today you will pay for all of the evil deeds you have committed!"

Her anger and hatred were giving her renewed strength and energy. Moving as swiftly and dexterously as a panther, she closed the distance between Guy and her. Suddenly, she gripped the bow with both hands, raising it higher and shifting it to the side of her body. With a fierce swing powered by both the forward momentum of her run towards Guy and the potency of her overwhelming fury, she struck Guy on the side of his head as she released a savage shriek that echoed across the courtyard like the cry of an eagle descending upon its prey.

"Argh!" Guy screamed as pain shot through his skull and down his neck. The force of the strike was so hard that he immediately collapsed. As his large frame hit the ground, his head was swimming, and then darkness threatened to engulf him like the angry waters of a storm-tossed sea. "Marian! What have you done?" But she didn't hear him because she wasn't there. "Marian! Marian! Marian!" he weakly called over and over again.

At that moment, Marian was standing near Robin, his unsheathed scimitar clasped in her hands. Speaking Robin's name like a prayer, she swung around and stalked towards Guy, driven by an overriding need to give the sheriff's henchman his retribution and spurred on by waves of hatred.

"Gisborne!" the sheriff screeched as he entered the square from the opposite side. "Stand up, you weakling! Shame on you, Gizzy! Are you really so tired that you need to lie down and rest on the sand? You have failed me again, and now we must leave! We must–" He abruptly broke off his verbal assault as his eyes fell upon the injured Robin and then on Marian who was moving towards Guy with the scimitar clasped in her hands.

Marian was already several steps from Guy. She paused for a moment and turned to Vaisey. She supplied with an evil sneer, "Will Gisborne escape with you, Vaisey? A clue: no! Your murderous dog is going nowhere, Vaisey! He will remain in the desert forever!"

Vaisey frowned in confusion and blinked. For a moment, he found himself unable to speak as he regarded Marian's face contorted in mad rage mingled with sanguinary hatred. As he leveled his gaze at the scimitar, a cry of shock erupted from him. "Gisborne, get up! Get up, you fool! To me!"

Gisborne lay on the sand, one of his hands resting on his face, but he wasn't shielding himself from the sun – his nose was bleeding heavily, and there was a small patch of ripped skin on his forehead.

A wave of disorientation seized Guy, and the pain in his skull was so vicious and intense that he could not organize his thoughts. If it had not been for throbbing in his head, he would have believed that he was experiencing a vivid nightmare, so confused and nonsensical were the images floating in his mind. Nausea stirred in the pit of his stomach, and he feared that he would begin to retch before getting to his feet. Yet in spite of it, his memory was returning, and he struggled to open his eyes.

Guy took his hand away from his face, and forced himself to open his eyes. The picture of Marian towering over him emerged before his eyes, and the long curved sword she was holding in her hands gradually came into focus, the blade shimmering in the brilliant sunshine. Her lips curled in an ever-malevolent grin, and her eyes glistened with immeasurable bloodlust. The realization of her purpose dawned upon him, instilling a mortal dread in him. "Marian, please… No…"

Marian shook her head. "You don't deserve to live, you monster." She lifted the scimitar, preparing to strike a fatal blow. But she stopped and was still, an expression of hatred and lust for vengeance on her face. She announced in a voice full of hatred and loathing, "Go to the devil, and burn in hell!"

Death was skulking in the stuffy air, and it was too late for Guy of Gisborne to do anything to save himself. Looking into Guy's eyes, Marian swung the weapon and struck downward, beheading her enemy in a blink. The sight of her cold, ruthless, pitiless eyes, blazing with intense hatred and burning him like hellfire, was the last thing that Guy saw in this world.

A slashing blow of Robin's sword severed Gisborne's head from his body, and it rolled on the ground, spluttering blood all over the place. Guy was dead, and his bulging, lifeless eyes looked at the heavens as the soul of Robin Hood's murderer departed to meet God and His judgment. Guy had seen many devils in his life – the devil of hatred, the devil of misery, the devil of violence, the devil of greed, and the devil of lust; each of them combined the features of the worst devil in his life – Vaisey. But today Guy would meet with either the real devil or God who would judge him for his mortal sins.

The crafty, villainous, and black-hearted Sheriff of Nottingham, a devil who swayed and drove men to hell by brutalizing them and poisoning their hearts with deadly venom, had been so dazed that he had watched Marian kill Guy as if he were bewitched. Her actions had rendered him in a state of deep shock, and he had simply observed the murder of his henchman, as if someone were conjuring magic over him. He hadn't expected that she would be able to kill Guy – that was beyond his belief.

As Marian stepped aside, the bloodied sword gripped in her hands, Vaisey finally found his voice. "Gisborne!" he cried out, his voice devastated and panicking.

Vaisey ran to the king's white horse standing riderless in the middle of the square. As he was about to mount, an arrow whizzed through the air and struck him in the back.

The sheriff saw someone appear within his shrinking field of vision. It was his executioner, and the man's face was distorted in fury. Thoroughly disgusted, Vaisey hissed between clenched teeth, "A feeble-minded manservant…" Then his lifeless body tumbled to the sand.

§§§

For a few moments, Much kept staring at the sheriff's corpse, the arrow sticking out of his back. When he had appeared on the deserted square, the first thing that had attracted his attention had been Vaisey trying to flee from Imuiz. He had acted automatically: he had taken an arrow and had nocked it into the bow that he had taken from one of the fallen Saracens on the way to the courtyard. It was difficult to believe that he had murdered Vaisey, ending the reign of terror in Nottingham.

As the astonishment subsided, Much roamed his eyes over the square. His eyes widened in horror as his gaze landed on Robin and understanding flooded his mind. "Master Robin!" his frightened voice boomed. The king was forgotten as all he could think about was that Robin was injured.

Then another scream of despair and pain pierced the air. "Robin!" Marian cried out in an agonized voice. She dropped the sword and dashed to Robin like a storm coming out of nowhere. As she ran, she could hear the wild drumming of the blood in her ears, and the image of Robin lying on the sand stood before her eyes like an anathema of death.

In the next moment, Allan, Will, Djaq, and Little John stumbled into the courtyard. They paused, shocked by the tragic demise of King Richard and Robin, both men grievously wounded. Never had they imagined, even in their wildest nightmares, that both the King of England and Robin would fall in the battle with the sheriff. They paused for a moment as their eyes took in the carnage –the remains of Guy's body and the sheriff's corpse. Much and Marian's calls to Robin pulled them out of their dazed state, and they rushed to two wounded men – King Richard and Robin Hood.

Marian dropped to one knee next to Robin and took his hand. "Robin, my love!" She let her eyes travel from his face to Guy's sword protruding out of his abdomen, his blood dripping onto the sand. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she couldn't stop them from falling. "Robin," she called him again.

"Master," Much murmured in an anguished voice as he knelt by Robin. His expression was shocked, and his eyes gleamed with fear. "Master, please open your eyes!"

As if sensing their presence, Robin slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurred, and he blinked hard before he could bring Marian's tear-stained face into focus. "Marian, you are alive," he whispered. "Did Gisborne hurt you?" He studied her closely, his eyes searching for any injuries.

"My love, you saved me from Gisborne," Marian purred, tears trickling down her cheeks.

Robin squeezed her hand and entwined their fingers together. "Then I am happy." A smile graced his pale features. "True love is worthy of any sacrifice. Your life is the only thing that matters to me."

Marian gasped, and fresh tears welled in her eyes. "Robin, my love…"

"Much, you are here." Robin tore his gaze from Marian and looked at Much.

Much took Robin's other hand in his and clutched it like a child to their father's in a swarming sea of nameless faces. "Master, you were wounded, but you will recover," he said confidently. He swallowed a sob as his gaze flittered briefly over Robin's body. Then he suddenly turned towards the others who gathered a short distance away. "We need Djaq to tend to Robin's wound!"

"Djaq!" Marian shouted in an urgent voice. She could see Djaq tending to the king's arrow wound, but Marian already didn't care about the king – Robin was more precious to her than anyone else. "Djaq, come here!" She wanted to say something else, but then she felt Robin squeeze her hand.

"Where is the king?" Robin inquired in a weak voice.

"He is alright, Robin." Marian held his head, looking down at him. "He is alright. You saved him."

"Where are the sheriff and Gisborne?" Robin glanced between Marian and Much.

Marian's face hardened like granite, and her eyes were bottomless in the darkness of her hatred for the two evil man. "They are both dead," she reported. "We killed them."

A look of wonderment came over Robin's face. "Good," he said shortly. They had no time to talk about the details at the moment. He wasn't a fool and understood that he was dying.

Marian began to stroke Robin's hair. "Hold on, Robin. Djaq will come soon."

"Robin, everything will be alright," Much assured Robin, but his voice lacked conviction.

Robin smiled feebly. "Much, please calm down, and don't panic." He trailed off, searching for the right words. _"There is God's will for the world and for a man."_

Marian sighed. She could see that Robin had already comprehended how dire his condition was. "I used to believe that there is _God's will for the world and for every human being_." She swallowed a lump that threatened to strangle her. "But I begin to think that there is no God."

Robin shook his head disapprovingly. "You cannot think so, my love. _The purpose of a man's life is to do God's will, and it is God's will for a man to die_." He dragged a breath, and a searing pain shot through him. As the pain subsided, he spoke, his eyes darting between Marian and Much. "If there was no God, now you wouldn't have been by my side."

An ominous silence descended upon the courtyard, punctuated only by the cries of the outlaws who watched the tragic demise of Robin of Locksley.

After she finished tending to the king's superficial wound, Djaq walked towards Robin, her eyes scanning his body. Even from a distance, without a proper medical examination, she already knew that there was nothing that could save Robin.

Marian pulled her gaze from Robin to Djaq. She saw a tear trickling down Djaq's face, realizing what the young Saracen couldn't say aloud. Marian had already suspected that Robin's wound was a fatal one, but part of her had hoped that they could do something and he would survive. She lowered her head, struggling to suppress her sobs while her heart was breaking to smithereens.

Robin looked between Djaq and Marian. "How is it looking down there? Am I beyond even Djaq's amazing talent?" He knew very well that it was a mortal wound, but he wanted confirmation. He released a sigh, resigned to his death and happy that his beloved Marian was by his side. "Well, I knew that from the beginning, but can we at least get this out of me? It hurts like hell."

Marian shook her head. "Robin, we can't take it out just yet."

Robin's knitted his brows as confusion settled in his mind. "Why?" He turned to Djaq and caught her sad glance, sighing. "Will I die when the sword comes out?"

Djaq swallowed heavily, then answered, "I am sorry… I am so sorry."

"Djaq, it cannot be true!" Much exclaimed, shaking his head in disbelief. Tears were streaming down his cheeks like a river. "You saved Marian when she died in a cave! Please, save Robin!"

"Miracles are not my forte," a distressed Djaq responded sorrowfully.

"And if I don't take it out?" the hero chocked out.

"Robin, you will stay alive until you… take it… out… Don't move to avoid… causing yourself more pain," Djaq advised in a shaky voice; then she stepped aside.

Marian tossed her head, not wishing to believe that she would lose Robin today. She had been so happy when they had exchanged marriage vows in the desert, thanking God that He had given them a chance to die together. When Carter had saved them, and she thought that they would have a chance to grow old together. At that moment, she had felt the utter bliss of divine blessing that had befallen them. In Imuiz, she had prayed that Robin would defeat the sheriff and that their fight would finally be over. Vaisey and Guy were dead, and the fight was indeed over, but Robin was going to die as well.

Much dissolved in tears and squeezed Robin's hand. Marian dropped her head, her eyes taking in an increasing pool of blood beneath Robin's body. In front of him there lay not death of an ordinary man but the death of England's greatest hero and the man whom they both loved most of all in their lives. Their victory suddenly seemed so hollow and meaningless, for Robin's impending death was the annihilation of everything they had believed as the world couldn't be fair if Robin was doomed to die.

Robin's weak voice snapped them out of their morose reverie. "Please don't cry for me," the hero expostulated in a shaking voice. Robin was tolerating the terrible pain in his stomach, and all he wanted was to pull the sword out of his body and find peace in death. But there were certain things he needed to do. "Call the king and the lads. It is time to say goodbye."

As King Richard, Allan, Will, Djaq, and Little John approached Robin, there was a short silence in the courtyard as they surrounded the dying hero. Much stepped aside, for he was planning to spend with Robin the last moments of his life.

King Richard surveyed Robin's face, and sighed woefully. "Robin, I am alive only because you came here in time," he began in a tentative voice, dropping the royal etiquette. "England and I owe you more than we can return. You saved my life many times, and you did it today again."

Robin managed a smile. "You are not in debt to me, sire."

The king's gaze flew to Marian and then back to Robin. When he began to speak, his voice was tense and rich in emotion. "Robin, you saved this lady's life and my life as well." He sighed. "You saved England, your king, and your love." He had already realized that Marian was the woman Robin had often spoken about during the years of his service to him. Robin had reminisced Marian with a strong longing that couldn't be appeased and became a habit, and the king had been surprised to have that insight into the depths of his young captain's guarded heart.

Swinging his gaze from the king and focusing it on Marian, Robin said in a deep and devoted voice, "I am _dying for the love of my life_ , and it is the best death God could give me," he professed.

Robin hadn't saved King Richard – he had saved Marian. When he had appeared in the courtyard and had seen that Guy was about to stab Marian, he hadn't thought – he had run to her, praying that he would be able to save her, but there was no time to fight, and he could do only one thing, which he did. He wasn't thinking about the king and England at that time. Robin still loved his king and would have done everything to save the man, but the sting of Richard's betrayal was still too harsh.

Marian gaped in amazement. Robin's utter devotion and unconditional loyalty to King Richard had become a sore spot in their relationship. She had selfishly wanted to be Robin's first priority, but he had often placed his duty over his love for her. They had always sacrificed their own happiness to fight for the king and their people, for justice and against tyranny, and she herself had told him that she would stay at the castle to keep him safe from the sheriff and to work for their cause. The king, and Robin's duty to him, had stood between them, like an insurmountable obstacle, like a sign of eternal separation, but something had changed for Robin, and it made Marian's heart leap in her chest.

The king nodded wordlessly. He wasn't amazed by the words spoken by his most loyal subject. He knew that Robin had sacrificed his life for Marian, but by saving her from Guy's sword, Robin had also saved the king. It was a double sacrifice for Robin Hood – a sacrifice for his king and for his love.

Little John looked at Robin, his eyes sad. "You, I love," he said shortly but meaningfully.

Djaq glanced at Robin with tear-filled eyes. "Robin, you saved my life in England. Without you, I would have long been dead in that mine." She swallowed a sob. "You are the greatest man I have ever met. You are the best friend one can wish to have, and we all will never forget you."

Standing near Djaq, Will spoke his farewell words. "Robin, I am sorry that I was angry at you when you returned from war. I thought that you had abandoned the people for glory, but I was wrong." He sighed drearily. "You have always been my hero, and I will never forget you."

Robin looked between John, Will, and Djaq. "Lads, I love all of you."

The king, who was observing the farewell after his short conversation with Robin, stared at the couple in astonishment, for he didn't expect that a young Englishman would want to marry a Saracen woman. Smiling reservedly, Richard congratulated Will and Djaq, who were obviously embarrassed. In an instant, the awkward moment was over, and each pair of eyes returned to focus on Robin.

Allan knelt by Robin; he wanted to talk to Robin because his situation was very special. Every part of him was filled with helpless, pitiless anger at Guy and at himself because of the pain from Robin's loss. Allan had betrayed the gang and Robin, which had resulted in the death of Robin's friend, Roger of Stoke, at Guy's hands. Although his betrayal hadn't caused Robin's death, his conscience was heavy with the guilt of serving the sheriff and Guy; he would never forgive himself for flat.

"Robin, I am not being funny, but I don't know what to say," Allan began in the most humble tone he could manage. "I can only apologize for what I did to you and the mates."

"I forgive you, Allan," Robin assured him, and a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "You also must forgive yourself. Just remember that there are no innocent lies and betrayals."

"I am proud to have fought alongside you, Robin." There was a tremble in Allan's voice, and tears were shining in his eyes. "I am proud of the friendship that we had before… I betrayed you."

Robin smiled. "You saved our lives in a barn, and none of us will ever forget that."

Allan smiled back, tears brimming in his eyes. "Thank you, Robin."

§§§

Robin Hood was dying, and the witnesses of the tragedy had no hope and no strength to watch it. Soon everyone respectfully left at the dying hero's request, each of them wrestling with anguish and losing the battle. Much seated himself on the sand next to Robin, and so did Marian. Robin wanted to have a private farewell with Much and Marian, his childhood friend and the love of his life.

"Master, please don't leave us!" Much beseeched, as if his pleas could change Robin's fate. He glanced at Marian and added, "You will marry Marian and be happy with her!"

Robin sighed grievously. "Much, you are my best friend. I will always live in your heart, with you." He shifted his gaze to Marian. "You both will need each other more than ever."

"Master, when I served the king, I served you," Much was speaking in between sobs. "You are my best friend and master, and I would have done anything for you."

"Much, I love you," Robin whispered with a fond smile on his face.

Much squeezed Robin's hand. "I love you too, Master! You are everything to me!"

"I know," Robin said. "I want to be with Marian. Only with her… before–" He abruptly stopped.

A pang of jealousy stabbed through Much's heart, but he nodded. "Yes, Robin." He rose to his feet and faltered towards the king and the others. As he stopped, his shoulders slumped forward, and he sank to his knees, bursting into heartrending sobs. If Marian hadn't killed Gisborne, he might have vented his extreme grief in violence – he would have cut the leather-clad man into pieces.

"Marian," Robin called the name of his beloved. He made an intake of breath, and a groan erupted from him. The pain in his stomach was nearly unbearable, and he mustered as much courage as he could to look calm. "My love, we haven't got much time. I am so sorry for that."

Marian smiled at him through tears, although inside her heart was splintering into a million pieces. "We have forever, my darling," she replied, stroking his hair that fell alluringly over his brows. "I hope so much that we have forever in Heaven because we didn't have enough time on earth."

He raised a hand to her face and ran a finger lightly along the line of her jaw line and her cheek. "We were busy. We were fighters, and I am proud of us."

"I am proud of us as well, Robin!"

He grimaced as a tide of pain shot through his body. "Can we please carry on?"

Marian blinked back the tears, her eyes confused. "What?" she inquired.

Smiling wistfully, Robin slowly said, "My love, how could you forget what was happening in the desert? The last time we were dying, we were getting married. That is the last time that I will marry you, and I want to do this now."

Having heard Robin's words, King Richard stalked towards the dying hero. He stopped and gazed down at the man whom he loved as a brother. "I have something for you." He fought hard to maintain his composed façade, for the tragedy with Robin was pulling at his heartstrings.

As his gaze met the king's, Robin could see the raw, deep pain in his liege's eyes; he smiled at his liege flabbily. Marian also turned to face the king, and her expression immediately changed into the one of coldness and resentment. She blamed the king for their situation, and she didn't wish him to be near Robin in his final moments. Richard felt the tension between Marian and him, and knowing the reasons for her feelings, he didn't make any comment or reprimand.

The king handed to Marian his enormous ruby ring for the wedding with Robin, and she took it, giving him an artificial smile. It was the only thing that the king could do for the great man who had saved his life so many times during the war and whom he had wronged today.

Richard ventured to explain something that, he thought, interested them a lot, "My presence will be enough to consider this wedding valid and legal." Then he took a step aside and paused, looking at them; he had to remain there to administer the wedding ceremony.

Robin smiled happily. "Let me make an honest woman out of you, my love."

Marian smiled back at Robin, but her eyes were shining with tears. "Shall we start?"

Gazing into her eyes, Robin laced their fingers as a symbol of their unity. "I, Robin, take you, Marian, to be my wedded wife." He lapsed into silence as a tide of pain went through him. Pleading with God to give him the strength to finish the wedding ceremony, he went on. "I promise to love you and to cherish you on earth and especially in Heaven. For now and forever, till death do us part."

There was a candescent smile on Marian's lovely, tearful face. Yet, her voice was shaking when she began to speak. "I, Marian, take you, Robin, my beautiful, beautiful Lord of Locksley, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part."

Richard took a step to the couple. "I pronounce you husband and wife," he finished the ceremony. He smiled wistfully as he continued, "You may kiss the bride, Robin."

Robin flashed a grateful smile at the king. "I must!" he choked out. His smile was a façade to the agony that was sweeping through his flesh and blood.

A smiling Richard nodded. He noticed the tension of Robin's facial muscles, understanding that his most loyal subject was enduring the harrowing agony. He cast a farewell glance at Robin, putting into his smile all the devotion and gratitude he felt for the hero. Then he started walking towards Much and the outlaws; his heart was weighed down by the grief of losing Robin and by his profound guilt.

For a moment, Robin wasn't speaking, staring at Marian with eyes full of love, devotion, and regret that he would never see her again. Robin of Locksley was the king's loyal man and the people's hero, known as the brave Captain Locksley in the Holy Land and as Robin Hood in England. Yet, now he was just a young man deeply love with his wife, who was already being cradled in a basilisk embrace of death. The hero didn't want to die, but Persephone, the queen of the underworld, was pitiless to him and Marian, menacing them to cut the thread of his life very soon.

Robin slipped the ruby ring onto her finger. "My heart is yours forever, my love," he murmured.

Marian glanced at the ring, and her heart somersaulted in her chest in joy. Giddy, complete, perfect happiness overwhelmed her at the thought that she was Robin Hood's wife! All her dreams were finally coming true, only to be ruined by the vicious strike of Guy's sword.

As she veered her gaze to his pale face, her eyes filled with tears of grief that she was about to lose him. "My heart has always been yours. Always." Tears were flowing out of her eyes like dewdrops.

He cupped her face with his hands, and she inclined her head to him. He wiped her tears with the back of his hand, and then his mouth came over hers, gently at first, then with an immeasurable longing and a burning passion. She responded to the kiss with a matching ardor and devotion; her fingers were tangled in his hair, and her tongue was laced with his.

Robin was kissing her hungrily, fiercely, savagely, claiming her and putting all his love for her into the kiss – the kiss of endless love, the kiss of cruel death, and the kiss of eternal unity of their hearts and souls. It was an extraordinary pinnacle of Robin and Marian's romance.

Yet, the Lord and angels were watching the doomed husband and his beloved wife from Heaven, whispering something between themselves, their sweet voices edged with notes of grief over the seemingly imminent death of Robin Hood. They could see a veil of death, which was invisible to all mortals, flying down from the sky towards Robin, and it would soon blanket him like a coffin covers a corpse. Death was stalking him like a hunter with a cord and net; Robin, who was still kissing his wife, could feel his vitality being drained from him and could hear a rustling of the wings of death.

Robin Hood and Maid Marian… Two heroes of England, their king, and their people. Two legends that would never be forgotten and whose love would echo through the ages. Did they deserve to be happy on earth, or was their earthly love doomed to end in Imuiz? They could have returned to England and could have grown old together! They could have been so happy if only Gisborne hadn't done the most evil deed in his life! Thanks to Guy, the love of Robin and Marian would be buried in an alabaster sarcophagus in Heaven, within its stone walls, until the hour of Marian's own death.

 _"The purpose of a man's life is to do God's will, and it is God's will for a man to die,"_ Robin told Marian after she had voiced her doubts regarding God's existence and His fairness. It was such a divine answer that the heavens smiled at the hero gratefully. Yet, Robin still didn't grasp God's will and God's glory completely – he didn't know that he could do more for England, that the people of England would need him more than ever after Prince John's accession to the throne. Robin's life was like a dome and pinnacles and cupolas, as exquisite as a jewel and as sacred as the Bible itself.

The fair and just Lord made up His mind and nodded at the angels who smiled jovially in approval. The fates of too many people depended on Robin Hood and Maid Marian! It wasn't Robin's time to leave this world. The veil of death was still falling from the blue sky towards Robin, but a sudden gust of wind snatched it away, although a lethal fog was still swirling in the air, right above the hero.

As the kiss ended, Robin looked into Marian's eyes warmly, his thumb caressing her cheek almost reverently. His handsome face was suffused with a light of love for her. "I love you, my wife," he murmured, his features elegant and his smile as bright as a sunrise in Sherwood Forest.

Marian smiled at him lovingly, her eyes brimming with tears that overflowed and slid silently down her face. "I love you, my husband," she whispered.

Robin flashed a happy smile of indescribable brilliance that always disarmed Marian and sent her heart racing. Now his eyes were full of love not only for Marian but also for God as he prepared to die; they were bluer than a deep sea, bluer than a summer sky, and bluer than usual as if something about this moment had chased dark fears away.

Holding Marian's gaze, Robin extended his hand and touched the hilt of the sword. Bravely and with a smile on his face, he pulled the weapon out of his flesh and gave a cry of pain; the sword slipped from his hand to the sand. He expected to fell into darkness, where, in the end, was God the Almighty, and his eyes were full of the blackness of death. _He was going to die!_ Remembering the atrocities he had committed in Acre, he trembled with fear as the words of his own death beat in his heart.

His countenance was all relief and happiness, and he smiled lightly. "Marian," he murmured.

Robin shut his eyes, and his heart collapsed in his chest. He felt the ground beneath him trembling, as if it was about to split into parts. He felt the vibration seeping up through his heart and into his bones. He didn't breathe, and his entire world was filled with the light that was growing stronger, coalescing into spheres. It was the last eruption of his dying brain, but it was still strange as he clearly saw everything around him illuminated in the light of the ether – the light of Heaven.

Robin felt a gentle glow of light on his skin, and he could see something moving in the rays of light – the dim shapes of someone's figure. Then someone spoke to him, and the visions began shifting and changing, as the pictures and the images of the past and his life flickered one after another. He heard someone's firm voice, but he did not know who was talking to him. Robin watched his past and listened to the voice, and the light was growing stronger and brighter. A new burst of light flashed in his brain, and, all at once, everything around him was ablaze with sparkling images.

Darkness was swirling around Robin with hellish persistence. Still, the dazzling fragments, the scintillating shards of a dream, flew at him, piercing his senses, embedding themselves deep into his perception. But the darkness was swiftly overpowering him, and he was defenseless against its onslaught. Robin surrendered to the dizzying torrent, drowning in an onrushing flood of emptiness and blankness. He was falling into a dark abyss, but on the brink of that abyss, there was light again, and life revealed itself once more, penetrating the heart, blood, and body of the hero.

"Robin?" Marian called him, but her husband was silent. She dropped her head and rested it on his chest. She closed her eyes, letting fresh tears fall, her heart writhing in agony.

Djaq approached Marian and landed on the sand next to her. "Marian, please…" The words didn't come out of her mouth. She couldn't say aloud that she wanted to check whether Robin was dead.

For a few moments, Djaq kept silent, watching Marian cry for her beloved and heroic husband. Her own heart was heavily laden not only with the grief over the tragedy but also with the guilt of her inability to save Robin's life. She took Robin's hand in hers and squeezed it, wrapping her small hand around his wrist. Suddenly, her eyes widened in bewilderment as she felt Robin's weak pulse under her fingers. Was Robin alive? But how could he be alive if the wound in his stomach was fatal?

"Marian!" Djaq screamed. "Give me more space! I need to examine Robin!"

Marian lifted her tearstained face to Djaq. "Please leave us. Let me be with my husband," she entreated, her eyes full of tears shining in the sunlight. There was no anger in her voice – only the great grief, the unendurable pain, and the naked plea not to interrupt her mourning.

"You don't understand! I think that Robin is alive!" the young Saracen spoke hastily.

Marian looked at Djaq as if something divine were overflowing through her. A look of disbelief and incredibility crossed her face, and then a happy smile came to her face. She directed the hopeful gaze of her watery eyes at Robin and blurted out in an agitated voice, "Please tell me that Robin is alive! I beseech you to save him!" She shifted slightly on the sand, giving Djaq access to Robin.

In a few moments, a triumphal cry expelled from Djaq's mouth. "Robin is alive! He is breathing!" she proclaimed, her hand resting on the spot on his neck where she could feel the throbbing of his pulse. "He didn't die!" she reiterated, her statement like a hymn of glory.

"Robin is alive. He is alive," Marian repeated the words like a mantra over and over again. The words repeated themselves endlessly. She had never dreamed that anything else could give him so much happiness. "Robin is alive…"

Cheerful and loud cries resonated in the air, and King Richard, Much, and the others hastened to get to Robin. There were large, joyful smiles on their faces, and those smiles dissipated the gloom in their hearts, illuminating them with a light, like a flash of lightning illuminates a dark midnight sky.

The king smiled widely and crossed himself. "Praise God! Robin is _a God's ward_ ," he said shortly.

An anxious Much bombarded Djaq with questions. "Djaq, is Robin really alive? Can you save him? Will he take a fever like when he was wounded in the Saracen attack? How can we help him?"

"Much," Marian addressed the man who immediately turned to her. "He is alive. He will live!" An amazing confidence filled her heart, and that feeling was as strong as her love for Robin.

As their eyes connected, Much assumed her confidence and asserted, "Robin will live!"

"Praise God!" Little John proclaimed. "Robin is alive!"

Allan broke into a merry laugh. "I am not being funny, lads, but it seems that God loves Robin and cannot take him from us!" he said in a high voice. "I begin to think that Robin is immortal!"

Will's lips curved in a smile. "Allan, are you posing as a man of the worldly mind?"

"No, mate! Of course not," Allan replied, feeling as if he were drowning in a sea of relief. He didn't remember when he had been so happy. "But Robin should have died, and yet he is alive! He could have died so many times, but he didn't!" He let out a laugh. "It is truly great that he is alive! I just hope that Djaq didn't have a dreadful apparition of the breathing Robin Hood when she checked his pulse!"

Djaq turned to the king and outlaws. "I need bandages to stop the bleeding – I need them urgently. Then we will take Robin to Bassam's house in Acre. All my instruments are there."

Richard offered his mantle, and he also torn the front of his tunic. "Take these things for Robin. It is one of the few things I can do for my savior today." He handed the mantle and a few pieces of ragged cloth to Will who bowed to the king and rushed to Djaq at a breakneck speed.

Marian climbed to her feet and took a step towards the king. She shot him a fulminating look and spoke in an unfriendly and sarcastic voice. "Thank you for honoring my husband so much, sire."

Richard emitted a heavy sigh and said, "Lady Marian, maybe my regret cannot make amends for my mistake, but I hope that Robin will truly forgive me over time."

Marian's features softened, and she smiled listlessly. "At least we all are alive."

The king smiled back at her, but his smile was doleful. "I doubt that I will ever be able to banish the remembrance of the tragic picture I have seen today – your and Robin's wedding. When we return home, we will have another wedding for the two finest heroes of England." He sighed deeply. "When I carry my eyes back to the real situation in my lands, sadness fills my heart." He stilled, lost in thought; his gaze drifted to Guy's headless corpse. "But at least two traitors are dead."

The next moments were like a blur of noises and movements, and the air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in the courtyard. Djaq was dexterously trying to stop the bleeding from Robin's wound and finally succeeded, while Marian, Much, King Richard, and John silently prayed for the hero's survival. Commotion escalated when Will and Allan brought Carter's body which they had collected from a nearby alley. The traitors were dead, Robin Hood was still breathing, but one of the king's men, the savior of the outlaws in the desert, had given his life for England and his king.

 _The city of Acre_

Several appallingly long weeks passed since the regicide attempt on King Richard's life in Imuiz and the well-deserved end of two demons – Vaisey and Gisborne.

The king didn't move his troops to the south, and the quest for the liberation of Jerusalem was over. Richard initiated peace negotiations with Saladin, thinking that it was high time to return to England. Robin had been delivered to Bassam's house, and the king's personal physician had joined Djaq in their desperate attempts to save the hero's life. Worried about his most loyal subject, the king sent his messenger to Bassam every day, but there were no positive changes in Robin's condition.

Everyone was shocked by the unprecedented events in Imuiz. The news of the Earl of Huntingdon's heroic sacrifice, Robin's marriage on what had seemed to be his deathbed, and the penance of the two traitors circulated fast among the king's men who were in a state of stressful anticipation and tremulous agitation, waiting for the news about Robin. Carter's murder and the uncertainty as to Robin's eventual fate wafted an air of pessimism over the Crusaders, reminding them of their false belief in Robin's treason and, hence, a hefty dose of guilt.

A feverish Robin of Locksley was barely clinging to life, but there was some mysterious strength that was embedded deep in his heart, had the power to touch and penetrate souls, and gave the hero himself an indomitable spirit, keeping him strong and unflinching in the face of death. The same inner strength welled up from the hidden depths of Robin's soul and infused him with courage and fortitude to fight for his life. And, therefore, Robin was still alive against all odds and expectations.

As a fever had set in his body on the first day after the regicide attempt, Robin had tumbled into a dark, unreal world of pain and agony, where darkness battled with light for dominance. Death was dragging the wounded hero closer and closer to its realm, but he was combating for his life as fiercely as he fought for his king, his love, and his people. One of the priests in the Crusaders' camp said that Robin followed _God's will_ better than others and spread goodness in the world, but the Lord spared the hero _only as an act of His divine mercy_. The legend was that it was God's will that Robin Hood would live and fight for England, King Richard, and his people.

Djaq and the king's physician believed that Robin had really died but then had miraculously come back. Robin's heart had stopped beating for a little while; his breathing and blood circulation had also ceased. But as most tissues and vital organs could survive death for a short time, his body had begun functioning normally as soon as his heartbeat had restarted. It was also true that Robin had passed out from the blood loss while they had thought mistakenly that he had died. Robin's survival was as miraculous as the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

Djaq, Marian, and Much were nursing Robin back to life during countless days and nights. They always lost count of these hours and days, at one point being certain that it was broad daylight outside and at the next one equally certain that it was pitch darkness. Each of them feared that dawn would never come to their lives. They watched a delirious Robin with grief-laden hearts as he mentally rocked back and forth on the waves of his fevered dreams, frequently moaning in pain, speaking incomprehensible things, and balancing on the threshold of an eternal darkness.

Trapped in a vise-like grip of powerful nightmares, Robin didn't distinguish reality from unreality, and only darkness, swirling and portentous, was enveloping him from all sides. His nightmares were about violent deaths, bloody battles, and stomach-churning bloodshed, and death was an inescapable symbol of his past sins and transgressions. As flashbacks of battles, skirmishes, massacres, and executions passed through his delirious mind, a red mist burst forth in his head, and Robin was drowning in the crimson darkness that completely engulfed him and was devouring his sanity.

Robin tossed and turned on his bed, his skin was hot, and his mind was on fire as well. His dreams immured him in inferno, where illusionary tortures in hell were intermingled with the torments of his sick mind. Robin often spoke to King Richard and his comrades, both dead and alive, as if they could hear them, and every nightmare was moving him closer to purgatory. At times, he begged God to grant him forgiveness as his mind meandered over the years of his service in the Holy Land, when killing had become his second nature and a normal part of his life. It was so hot that Robin was burning up inside and out, his mind glowing with a sickening, crimson brilliance of Crusader's glory.

When Marian, who sat near his bed for hours, saw that Robin encountered too many evil forces in his nightmares, she usually began to speak to her husband, trying to soothe his frazzled nerves and calm him down. Her dulcet voice guided him from darkness to the door which led him to a world of pleasant and delicious dreams. The young hero relaxed only when he dreamt of Marian and his life in Sherwood Forest, and a captivating smile graced his features at such moments. When Robin smiled with a charming smile, darkness dissipated, gardens of happiness were in full bloom in Marian's soul, and her heart was singing in joy, like nightingales sing beautifully in forests at night.

Robin's fever broke by the end of the third week, but he remained unconscious for about a week then. He was very weak and looked rather ill, and he had lost much weight while being locked in the battle with death. When he finally opened his eyes, he didn't understand where he was, believing that he had died and was in Heaven. Soon, however, his dream world morphed into reality, and he realized that he had been teetering between life and death for a few weeks but survived. The most important realization was that Marian and he had another chance to be happy on earth.

During a few weeks, Robin was so weak that he was barely able to speak, although he knew what was going on around him; his torso remained bandaged as his wound was slowly healing. In the light of Robin's improving health, everyone was awash in relief, but Marian and Much still spent most of the time with him. Marian wanted Robin only for herself, often sending Much away and causing him to frown at her as jealousy stirred in his heart. Alone with him, Marian spoke to Robin about their future life and their dreams, and he looked at her with longing in his eyes, with an expression of wistfulness and love; when he had no strength to speak, he smiled lovingly, and she smiled back at him.

In about two months after the regicide attempt, Robin was already strong enough not only to speak but also to accept his friends and comrades. Djaq, Allan, Will, John, and Bassam regularly visited Robin, and many Crusaders came to the recovering hero as well. Djaq commented that the increasing flow of visitors was disturbing Robin, who laughed off her concern for his heath in his usual devil-may-care manner. King Richard and several prominent generals came to Robin as well.

Robin became known as _the victorious, brave, and heroic Earl of Huntingdon._ He triumphed over death and darkness, and he demonstrated the ability to suffer a grave injury and survive. Robin was now viewed as an invisible and immortal victor, as the possessor of enormous and magic power, and was almost his own God. Robin was more crestfallen than pleased when he heard that from Much, thinking that his comrades were fools to believe in his mythical immortality. He, Robin Hood, was just a man, like others; a man who had a capacity for love, compassion, and goodness, as well as for hatred, anger, and other negative emotions. His heroic reputation made him sigh despondently and thank God that his days of serving in the Crusading forces were long gone.

The spacious and richly furnished chamber was bathing in the balmy morning sunlight, warm and lustrous and thrusting life into everything it touched. Marian and Robin lay on a large canopied bed, wrapped in a tender, light embrace, their bodies covered with a silk sheet.

The spouses were not naked: Robin was dressed in a white silk Saracen robe, which he grew to hate during the weeks of his convalescence, and Marian wore an expensive gown of blue silk and satin, trimmed with the finest blue lace on the sleeves. The gowns she wore in Acre were the courtesy of a wife of one of the Christian generals, while Robin had to resign himself to wearing a Saracen flowing robe in order to avoid physically disturbing the healing wound.

Marian came to Robin's bedchamber at dawn, after Much had awoken her and requested that she go to her husband who had been again going through nightmares. She stayed with Robin, soothing his fears and engaging him in a talk about their happy future in England. His nightmares retreated, smothered by Marian's presence, and Robin invited her to lie down with him. As soon as she snuggled in the bed with him, she was taken prisoner by his strong arms, and his mouth landed on hers.

Robin and Marian met the sunrise together, luxuriating in each other's closeness and enjoying the picturesque views of the morning sky that was dimly lit with a hue of pink at the horizon line. While the pale dawn was slowly graduating into a perfect morning, they talked about everything and nothing, in interludes renewing their kissing, hungrily drinking the nectar of love from one another's mouths. As the sun rose gloriously from behind the horizon, the mourning's kissing session was already intense as they both were so aroused that if Robin's injury wasn't still healing, they would have taken off their clothes approximately in a time that it takes for a hummingbird to flap its wings once.

A physically stronger and healthier Robin demanded more attention from his wife, and their frequent intimate contacts – only mouth-to-mouth contacts – aroused them both to an undeniable passion. Yet, they had to curb their appetites that were strong, fleshy, and ardent, although they were eager for more and impatiently waited for Robin's recovery. Now they could only seize the chance and have some moments of privacy, and as a breath of love passed between them, they dove headlong into a bottomless ocean of love, felicity, passion, and rapture, expressed in words, kisses, and touches.

As Robin broke the kiss, he drew back slightly and stared into his wife's sapphire eyes that were so deep blue, darkened by passion, that they appeared black unless the light caught them a certain way. "My love, once I told you that I am the best kisser. You excelled in the art of kissing thanks to your intensive practice with me," he said teasingly. "Will you deny that, my dear wife?"

Marian was quiet for a moment as she pondered over her response. A sly smile curled her lips, and she purred, "You are lucky that I have nobody to compare you to, my dear husband. You are the only man whom I kiss willingly, and maybe there are better kissers than you."

He grinned arrogantly as he wrapped a strand of her hair around his finger. "I am happy that I am the only man in your life, my darling wife. I wouldn't have allowed any man to take you away from me; and if someone kissed you against your will, I would have shot him from my bow."

"What about other women in your life? I know that you weren't chaste while you were away."

He blushed like a child and, knowing that he was blushing, fluttered his eyes shut and shook his head at the wonder of what was happening. After a good deal of hesitation and embarrassment, he opened his eyes and spoke. "Marian, I don't deny that I had been with many women before I realized that I couldn't forget you in a meaningless quest for affairs. There is no cure from true love when it comes to someone's efforts to move on; at least not for a man like me."

She ran her thumb along his stubble-covered chin. "I know that you are faithful to me, handsome. I have no doubt that you will never stray." She sighed regretfully. "Probably, I shouldn't have said that."

"Why, Marian? I welcome your honesty, and if something worries you, you have to tell me about it. If there are things from our past which you want to know, you should ask me everything without fear and hesitation. I have never lied to you, and I will answer your questions truthfully."

"I wanted to ask you one thing."

He arched a brow. "Go on, Marian."

A tinge of red slashed over her cheekbones. "How many… women you… had…" she stuttered, but still didn't finish her question.

To her surprise, Robin burst out laughing, and it sounded like a mocking laugh in her ears. Then he lapsed into short silence, looking at her with twinkling eyes. At last, he spoke with a teasing lilt in his voice. "Actually, not as many women as you probably imagine were at my feet and… ended in… erm… in a nest with me. You know that I am a ravishing flirt, and it often didn't go anywhere beyond flirt."

Her eyes twinkling like his, she eagerly responded to his teasing assault. "Yes, Lord Huntingdon, you have always been a shameless flirt who snares women and whose hands are like chains when a pretty face comes into the picture."

He planted a kiss on her forehead. "Lady Huntingdon, you don't need to tell me that my endearing flirt helped me charm my way back into your good graces after my return."

"Again arrogance."

"Of course. Never without it."

"Yeah, I should get accustomed to that."

"Are you surprised or amazed?" he asked, reciting their first private conversation after his return.

Marian caught his hint. "Neither of these two feelings."

"Then what, my love?"

"Few things surprise me in you, Robin. Maybe I have known you for too long."

"Marian, I always relish in making you surprised and amazed! But you have just shot an arrow right in my heart! I am wounded and bleeding to death!"

Her features darkened, and she fought back tears, but still they whelmed, spilling hotly over her cheeks. "Robin, don't say such things! Don't say anything about your death! I cannot remember your death in Imuiz. I cannot–" Her voice faltered to a halt, and more tears came to her eyes.

A pang of guilt for lacerating her heart went through Robin; he didn't think that his seemingly innocent joke would cause her heartache. He embraced her a little more tightly, and wiped her tears with the back of his hand. "My love, please don't cry! Everything will be alright! I am alive, and I am with you! I am not dead, and I am not going to die! I will never leave you again! Don't cry, my love!"

As he saw trying to soothe her, Marian regarded him through a veil of tears. "Robin, I cannot live without you! I won't be able to go on a living if you die! I cannot lose you again!"

Robin kissed her temple. "I swear you won't lose me."

For some time, Marian was weeping in his arms while Robin was stroking her hair and murmuring calming words and phrases to her. At that moment, they were united in the dark memories of their past and in their heartaches, pains, sorrows, miseries, and grieves, expressed in her tears and voiced non-verbally by the sadness in his eyes. Feeling warmth and strength flowing from his body to hers, Marian soon becalmed and tried to smile at him.

"How are you, my love?" he asked with concern.

Marian smiled mistily; her tears began to dry. "You always give me strength, even in the darkest moments of my life. I am always feeling wonderful when you are with me."

He smiled at her cordially. "I am happy to know that I can make you happy."

She kept quiet for a long moment. When her demeanor changed, and she spoke in a sarcastically inquisitive tone. "So some women ended in a nest with you. Is it a euphemism?"

Robin's heart lightened as she felt better, and he giggled. The conversation was going to continue being amusing, to say the least, and he could also feel her jealousy of him, which he liked a lot – usually he was jealous of her to Guy, but now their roles reversed. "My love, I might be a flirt, and I am, but I have shame and conscience. I am trying to be frank with you, but I am very considerate when it comes to the delicate feelings of a former maiden."

He tapped her nose playfully, grinning at her sheepishly. "You obviously don't know many things about men, and your innocence in the matters of love gladdens me a lot." He raised his voice. "Flirting is a promise of something, but without a guarantee. Being with a woman without love is different from being with you, Marian; affairs without love leave a man hollow."

Marian was torn between embarrassment and delight. She had never talked about such things with anyone, and she wasn't even aware of many feminine things; only her maid, Sarah, had spoken to her about wifely duties and a marriage bed. Such topics were deemed indecent and immoral and were probably never discussed between spouses. But Robin wasn't an ordinary man, and she was happy that he would never treat her like other husbands treat their wives. Marian also was immensely pleased with the novelty in their relationship – his unexpected willingness to open the door to the mysteries of his heart.

"But you have learned your lesson," she surmised after a pause.

He nodded. "I did." His arms tightened around her. "I need only you. Only you."

"And I need only you."

The sunlight glinted gold in his tousled sandy hair, and his skin glowed. "Shame is a soul eating emotion, and I prefer to acknowledge my past sins instead of hiding them." He sent her a grin. "And I have discovered that I like a jealous Marian probably even more than an angry Marian."

She pursed her lips. "I am not jealous, Robin."

"No, you are!"

"I am not," she persisted.

He winked at her. "Fine. I agree with you, if it makes you happy."

She traced the line of his eyebrow with a fingertip. "I want to roll my eyes at you, Robin."

"Yeah, Marian, tell me one thing. When have I become so special that I deserve this?"

"Maybe a minute ago, or maybe a day ago or a year ago."

Incredible joy suffused Robin's features. "Perhaps I have always been!"

Marian couldn't help but smile broadly. "You greatly overestimate yourself, Robin Hood!"

"Perhaps," he drawled. "But that doesn't mean that I am not correct."

"So self-assured! You are impossible," she berated him.

"Always," he said, grinning vaingloriously. "Marian, we grew up together, your father was my guardian after my father's death, and we have been through too many hardships. I can freely say that you have been always special to me, at least as long as I remember myself."

Marian smiled, and poked him on the cheek. "Alright, Robin, you have won! I cannot deny that you have been my favorite playmate and my only friend in childhood, and you have always been unique."

Robin smiled with a triumphal smile. "I am well aware of that." His thumb moved along her cheekbone, and she leaned her cheek into his palm. A teasing glint in his eyes, he added, "You have always been unique too! We both are one-of-a-kind, and there are no people who lead lives like ours!"

"For sure, Robin!"

"Oh, I have forgotten to say one thing to my goodly wife," he began, his grin widening. "The denial of jealousy makes you even more jealous because the denial of apparent things is jealousy with a halo."

Her eyes widened in amazement, and she felt a deep blush creep up her face. "You have a nerve to say that, Robin of Locksley! Your impertinence is more than any woman can bear!"

"My impertinence is more than charming," he amended her. "It is irresistible!"

Marian wanted to throw a barb at him, but Robin didn't allow her to speak. His mouth claimed hers, and she parted her lips, letting him stab his tongue inside. He kissed her like her lips were air and he couldn't breathe, and his hands slid down to her hips under the blanket. Kissing him back, she felt the pounding of his heart, and it seemed to connect to her own heart. But, suddenly, he drew back.

§§§

Robin had that cocky smile on his face that both infuriated and enthralled Marian, and his eyes were coruscating with the blue light of satisfaction. "Kissing you is a good way to keep you quiet!"

Marian frowned in feigned exasperation. "A good way to prevent me from talking about your sins!"

A dark shadow crossed his face. "Well, Marian is not fair because I also have reasons to be jealous. Gisborne kissed you when you were betrothed to him, and you once kissed him to save Carter and me in the castle. But I prefer to forget about this murderer."

All thoughts about jealousy evaporated from her mind. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. Gloom reigned in her heart at the mention of Gisborne, becoming more somber with every moment, as if angered by the mere thought of him. When she opened her eyes and looked at Robin, he could see the raw pain and despair there, and his heart constricted in his chest. Ebony, evil darkness was closing over them because darkness, evil, and Guy of Gisborne were interchangeable.

"Lord bless and forgive me!" Marian cried out suddenly. A look of incredibility coming on her face, she paused for a moment, sighing deeply. "I still cannot believe that I killed Gisborne after he… had stabbed you in the courtyard and then had tried to talk to me. I would have never committed such… a brutal murder if Gisborne hadn't stabbed you, Robin. I was overwhelmed with such intense hatred for him that I didn't understand what I was doing. The only thing I wanted was to see him dead."

Reflecting on Guy's murder at her hands, Marian was overcome by a queer mixture of utter consternation and wicked delight. It was hard for her to believe that she was capable of such brutality.

She had killed several men before, once as the Nightwatchman when she had been almost caught, and once on a raid with the outlaws, when she had lived with Robin in Sherwood. But Guy's death was different – it was her vengeance upon the man whom she had once viewed as her friend. Guy's crime had fomented a hateful flame of colossal brightness in her, and the darkness of her bleeding heart had broken out from the crumbling walls of her heart. There was also a feeling of the immoral, wicked delight which she had from avenging the wound her beloved Robin had received from his life-long enemy.

Robin squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, and his hand under the sheet instinctively went to his injury. His wound was still healing, and the dull pain in his abdomen never went away; sometimes it grew better and sometimes worse. Thoughts and memories of Gisborne, his childhood nemesis, were as painful as his wound, a permanent memento of his final confrontation with Guy.

He had hated Gisborne since the night of the fire at Gisborne Manor. He had begun to hate him even more after the discovery of the black-wolf tattoo on Guy's forearm and after the man's attempt to coerce Marian into a marriage. When Guy had been wooing Marian, Robin's loathing for the man had been increasing exponentially. His hatred for Gisborne had flared up like a funeral pyre when Guy and he had been locked in a deathly embrace in the courtyard. Yet, the knowledge of Guy's death at Marian's hands had extinguished the fire of his hatred, and now only a disdainful pity remained.

After his awakening, Robin had already confided in Marian his darkest secrets – his old conflict with Guy of Gisborne. Being only a girl of five at the time of the fire, she didn't remember the Gisbornes and knew only that Robin's father had died in the flames. Robin had acknowledged that he did feel guilty of letting the bailiff eject the Gisborne offspring from Nottinghamshire. Marian had chided him for his thoughts, saying that he was only a child of ten at that time and couldn't have opposed every a crowd of angry villages who had craved to expel the Gisbornes. In spite of Marian's words, Robin's honorable heart was full of guilt and grief for not doing the right thing back then.

Robin opened his eyes, and she distinguished the deep, endless melancholy there. "Marian, what is done is done. Gisborne is dead, and it was God's will that he had died that day at your hand. Let's forget about this man and his evil deeds, and leave the past behind," he said in most gentle tones. "You shouldn't blame yourself for the rest of your life for taking his life."

She shook her head in denial, and her eyes glistened with hatred. "I don't blame myself for killing Gisborne. He did deserve death, and I am very glad that I gave him his due." Her features softened as she cupped Robin's face and glanced into his eyes that she loved so much. "I will never forgive this fiend for almost killing you, handsome. I thank God every day for your survival."

Robin kissed her passionately on the mouth, distracting her from disquieting thoughts. When the kiss ended, he moved to another theme. "Marian, I am so proud of you and Much!" he exclaimed.

"You should be," she retorted with a smile.

His eyes wide open, as if enmeshed in the innumerable threads of a sudden reverie. As he banished thoughts of Gisborne and Vaisey from his head, he diverted his attention to the heroics of Much and Marian. "He and you are two heroes of the battle in Imuiz. You eradicated evil and saved everyone's lives," he commended with admiration in his voice. He could hardly believe that the two people whom he loved the most in his life had done what he could have done countless times in the past.

"Robin, you are a real hero of the day. You saved me and the king. You saved England."

"My love, I wasn't saving King Richard. I wanted to save you and only you," he confessed.

Marian's lips twitched slightly. "You said that when we were in Imuiz."

Robin heaved a sigh. His expression was torn between amusement and disbelief as he first remembered his condemnation for treason all these weeks ago and then his long conversation with King Richard after his awakening. "I have known King Richard for so long, since my early youth, and I have always admired and loved him. Even though he condemned me to death only because of hearsay, I still consider him my friend, and I cherish our friendship." Feeling her body tense, he swiftly added, "But I will never be as blindly loyal to the king as I used to be, although I will always be loyal to him."

She studied him closely, her eyes keen with interest. "You have changed," she deduced, flowers of hope spring forth in her. "You are not going to follow King Richard to wage war in Normandy that is now being attacked by the French troops. Is my assumption correct?"

Her words didn't seem surprising at all. It was just like Marian to ask such questions, and it was just like the old Robin to rush to the king at the first request. "Yes, you are right. I will never leave you again, my love," he assured her in a silky voice that sounded like a vow.

"But your love for the king hasn't lessened after his betrayal of your loyalty?" to love her deliciously,

Robin continued to denude his heart, "I love King Richard as a friend, but many things have changed. When I joined the Crusade, I was ready to go to the very end of the world to do my duty to England and my liege lord. It is true that I wanted glory, and I needed to earn the respect of my peers even more, for they used to consider me a pampered boy who was lucky enough to inherit a rich earldom from his deceased father. But, I quickly understood that the battlefield is the last place where you can find glory: it is the place where violence destroys lives and lands, cultural refinement, and souls of survivors, and where the pulsations of shame are the strongest."

A smile of beatitude was etched on her face. "Thank you for your candidness, Robin."

"I love a smiling Marian and an angry Marian." Robin ran a finger down her cheek, and then traced the line of her lower lip with his thumb. "But, I love your smile the most. Your slow and breathtaking smile… A smile of an angel which is beautiful, charming, adorable, and bewitching."

Her eyes shimmered with delight. "I have no doubt you love it, Robin!"

He kissed the tip of her nose. "Now look who is being conceited," he mocked.

Marian rolled his eyes, but her smile divulged her enjoyment of their banter. "I love your impish smile and your cheeky grin! They make the legendary Robin Hood very charming!"

A flamboyant grin flourished on his face. "I am taking your every word as gospel, Marian of Locksley!" He liked the sound of her new name – Marian of Locksley, his wife and his love.

He rightfully deserved to be heaped with praise and trophies. "Robin of Locksley, a good husband must be his wife's confidante, friend, protector, and lover. And you are everything the word 'husband' means to me. In your heart and soul, you are mine!"

Robin glided his hand over her ribs to her breast under the sheet, feeling her body react to his light caress. "I am a lucky man that I have you in my life! You are everything to me!"

As he ran his hand over her ribcage, she began to bit her lip in order not to moan, for his touch was so gentle and sweet and inflaming. "I am pleased that today we have accomplished a lot." She released a sigh of frustration. "We have been so rarely candid with one another."

He sighed, cocking his head in thought. "We have lost a lot of time because of our pride." He pulled her deeper into his arms, his movements careful as he shifted a little bit, for any sharp movement could still cause him pain. "You and I pretend that we are stoic and invincible and that nothing can hurt us, but it is the biggest lie we have ever told each other and ourselves."

Marian cupped his face and kissed him reverently on the lips. "I love you deeply, Robin! My heart has always belonged to you," she professed, looking warmly into his eyes. "I have always loved you, and I don't remember a day when I didn't love you. I waited for you for five years, fearing that you might have been killed in Acre." She brought her forehead to his, holding his gaze. "I loved you when you walked off to war and broke my world and my heart. I loved you when you came back and was outlawed. And now I love you more than ever."

Robin flashed the most affectionate smile which he gave only to her. The curtain fell, and he gave her full access to his outer and inner world. "Marian, you are the love of my life. You have always been the keeper of my heart," he spoke in a deep voice penetrating her heart. "When I was away from England, there was no day when I didn't think of you and of what I lost in my foolish quest for glory and in my attempt to do my duty." He planted a kiss on her lips and whispered, "You were guiding me to light from darkness when I didn't hope to ever see the greenwood of England and my home, my Locksley. You helped me survive and guided me home."

He shifted his body on the bed, and she mirrored his actions, their movements slow and exquisite in their caution. Each of them regretted that they couldn't envelop one another in a tight embrace, being grateful that at least a cocoon of warmth surrounded them protectively and cherishingly. A wry smile on his lips, Robin moved his hand along her curves and dipped it lower, to her hip, and it was where Marian shook her head in spite of being tempted to take his sensuous offering, reminding him that they had to leave their desires unsatisfied for now.

The knowledge that he always loved her meant the world to her, and her heart was palpitating with love for him. Brushing the hair back from his eyes, she revealed, "When you were away, I tried to forget you, but I failed. You were always with me, in my heart. Always you and only you."

Robin's face changed into solemnity. "Marian, can you forgive me for leaving you?"

"I forgave you many months ago, my darling." It had happened quite soon after his return, when she had learned from Much that Robin had been almost fatally injured in the Saracen attack and had barely survived. She had realized that Robin's years in the Holy Land hadn't been spent in a perpetual quest for doubtful glory, although she hadn't admitted that to him.

He smiled endearingly. "We are meant to be together, my love! I knew the moment that you loved me when you aimed an arrow at me from your bow! This is one of the most unforgettable moments of my life! I understood that you had been waiting for me all these years!"

She poked him on the cheek playfully. "You are no gentleman, Robin Hood! Even though your wife confessed that she waited for your return from war, you don't have to throw it into her face!"

His lips lengthened in an impish grin, and he murmured, "You know the chivalrous and honorable principles of Robin Hood and his merry men! I am all gallantry and chivalry a man can possess!"

She huffed in annoyance, but she was smiling. "Heroes never grow tired of their admirers."

He teased her back, "Like the sun that rises and sets in the most splendid colors of life. Like a pretty maiden aglow with love, a lady never grows tired of chivalry."

"Oh?" she gasped in counterfeit amazement. "You have invented a new drivel!"

"Yes, I have. For you, my wife."

"Thank you, my husband. This drivel is not as clumsily-phrased as your other drivels."

Robin grinned sheepishly. "I know that you were waiting for me because my charms have never ceased working on you, and they never will. You couldn't marry another man while there was still hope that I was still alive."

Marian giggled. Usually, she chided Robin for his immense vanity and infuriating overconfidence. But she couldn't and wouldn't start bickering with him now; not after the disarming frankness between them. "I fear that you will have to pay for your arrogance for the rest of your life, Robin of Locksley," she spoke teasingly. "I always know how to make you pay."

A lascivious smile curled his lips. "In response, I will tantalize you."

"What?" she asked fervently.

"I can do something very pleasant." He bent his head and kissed her neck, savoring the intoxicating scent of her skin and its seductive taste. "And this." He sucked on her earlobe, his breath hot, his lips warm on her skin. "And this, too." He again began to lavish kisses on her throat, feeling an acute shudder run through her whole body. "The sensual torture will be greater than you are willing to endure, my dear wife. I will tantalize you, not giving you what you want. You will endure the torment, and in enduring, your passion will grow stronger."

"Robin!" she cried out, feeling the blood thicken in her veins. "Robin…" she moaned very quietly.

His face split into a smug grin, and he said thickly, "Yes, my love." As he continued the onslaught on her neck, she called his name again, and his grin became salacious. "I know how to ignite passion in you. Only I know this," he said possessively.

Marian dug her nails into the skin of his neck. "Your huge ego makes me livid!"

Robin stopped kissing her, his face contorted in a grimace of pain. "What have I done to deserve this?" he inquired, looking offended. "I like it much more when you caress the hair on my neck."

She swatted him on the cheek. "You have become too conceited and too obnoxious! I promised you that I would make you pay, and I kept my word!" A mischievous smile curved her lips. "A wife has a right to punish her husband if he misbehaves!"

His lips stretched into a roguish grin. "A lady should be allowed to choose how she is treated. Until she makes a choice, she should be treated like a proper lady. But once, on that starry night in Sherwood after the siege and the sheriff's sleepwalking in Sherwood, you had different preferences."

A flush of embarrassment suffused Marian's cheeks as she reminisced their first time in the woods. Yet, in a moment, a dreamy smile lit up her features. "That night was magic and heavenly!"

Brushing his mouth over hers, Robin murmured huskily, "It sealed our love forever, my wife." He chuckled against her skin, and held her more closely. "It proved that there is something uncanny about the way we feel when they are together. I mean everything – the way we touch and look at each other, the way we enkindle passion in our hearts, and the way we match one another so well. It has always struck me as extraordinary that we balance out each other in all ways!"

She smiled benevolently. "Yes, handsome!"

He looked immensely enamored. "The first time I held my bow, it felt right, like it was made for me, and that's how I feel about you," he repeated the words of his second proposal. A cheeky smile tugged at his lips. "In childhood, I knew that I would be a great archer, since the moment I first held my father's longbow. And when I met you years ago, I knew that you and I would be happy in a lifelong marriage, although I almost ruined our chances to be together by joining the Crusade."

Her hand tenderly caressed his cheek. "Robin, you are alive!" she cried out happily, giving her husband a smile rich in goodness and affection. "With God's help, you cheated death again, and now we are married! It was God's will that you lived!"

Robin felt warmth fill her heart as her love-filled eyes met his. "There is God's will for the world and for a man," he repeated what he had told her on his deathbed, his fingers trailing over her cheek. "It is God's will that I survived, and it is God's will that we will be together on earth and in heaven."

Marian winded her arms around his neck, running her fingers through his hair. She reached out for his face to draw Robin to her, trying to be gentle to avoid causing him pain. He pressed her to him a little more closely, and she turned on her side in his arms, their gazes heated and intense. Robin's mouth found hers, and he kissed her at first gently, then with a growing passion which she initially returned. They would have half-smothered each other in their embrace if Marian didn't pull back, looking at him alarmingly and shaking her head.

Robin looked disappointed at first. Then his expression evolved into frolicsome. "My beloved Nightwatchman, I am fully aware that my kisses deprive you of breath and make your heart race like a breeze through Sherwood Forest," he embarked on a new round of teasing. "When I kiss you, the rest of the world disappears and my mind shuts off." He leaned closer, his breathing warm on her cheek. "I am your husband, and we don't need to hide, unless you are ashamed of me, my darling. You should allow me to exercise my husbandly rights instead of stopping me."

As a tide of burning desire coursed through her, and she trembled all over, trying to take her emotions and sensations back under control. A blush inundated her cheeks; her skin was tingling with excitement. "Robin, I am worried about your health! You are not strong enough–" She broke off.

He snickered. "To make love to you, my love," he finished for her. He found it hilarious to see her embarrassed after the consummation of their relationship months ago. "I agree that now we cannot do what I covet to do the most, but we can still do something very pleasurable."

She bit her bottom lip and sighed. "Yes," she said, feeling as if she would turn into vapor, lose hold of everything, and melt away if he didn't kiss her.

Robin winked at her. "Don't be greedy, my dear wife. Just one kiss, my love!"

Marian winked back at him. "Only one," she assented, feigning her reluctance.

Robin captured her lips with his, and Marian responded in kind, their lips locking and unlocking in wet, ardent kisses, their tongues thrusting and twisting with a heart-pounding intensity in an orgy of love and passion. They glued their lips together in a long and sultry kiss of love, shuddering at every beat of their hearts, wishing crescendo to come and carry them to a realm of celestial peace and pleasure. And yet, they pulled back and stared at each other, knowing that it was the right choice.

"I love you, my husband," she said with an enchanting smile.

He rewarded her with a glorious smile. "I love you, my wife. Forever and ever."

They snuggled in their embrace like birds among the branches of a tree, their souls filled with hope for a peaceful future, their hearts beating in lively pulses. The bright sunlight leaked through a large window, falling on their faces that were glowing with love. Through the window, they could see the cerulean canvas of the sky, dotted with a few arrow-shaped clouds, and the brilliant sun halo signified a benign blessing of nature to their union. God wanted Robin Hood to live and marry Maid Marian, and angels were singing amorous songs, glorifying their love's transcendence of physical death.

* * *

 _I hope that you liked this story._

 _I think that it is a realistic outcome of the S2 Finale._

 _If Robin Hood had arrived in the deserted courtyard before Marian's stabbing, he would have sacrificed his life for Marian without hesitation if it was the only way to save her. Robin loves Marian and would gladly die a thousand deaths for her; he is also a self-sacrificing man and saves even the most humble souls. If Guy wounded Robin right in front of Marian, I believe that it is possible that she would have tried to murder him either in Imuiz or after their return to England. In this story, Marian becomes an angel of vengeance, and hatred for Guy pushes her to commit an act of violence._

 _I wanted Marian to take her revenge on Guy and Much to murder Vaisey. Robin becomes the hero of the day and the main victim of the regicide attempt. Marian and Much, his two most beloved people in the world, get their glory as well – they kill the sheriff and his accomplice, Guy. I think that not every fan agrees with my decision to kill off Guy, but my staunch opinion is that if Guy kills or mortally wounds Robin, the only possible outcome for him is death – he becomes irredeemable._

 _I know that it is tragic, but Robin survives and is happy with Marian; he is also married to her. Robin is spared by God not as a specific reward for the many good deeds Robin has done – it is a miracle of God. This is God's decision and God's mercy because Robin is needed on earth in the years to come. It is God's will that Robin survives, which is why the story's title is "God's Will"._

 _The second half of the story is fluffy and devoted entirely to Robin and Marian. I think that their banter and amorous conversation balance out the previous tragic scenes. The story is tragic, but there is a happily ever after for Robin and Marian, and half of the story is a light romance._

 _Thank you for reading his story. I would be very grateful for reviews._


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